The classic idea of a magical transformation, and the lesson of being careful what you wish for, is revisited in The Altered History of Willow Sparks by Tara O’Connor. This high school-set graphic novel does a terrific job with individual moments but doesn’t fully assemble them into a coherent whole. Willow has acne, one good friend, and a part-time job at the local library. Both she and her friend are bullied by the pretty, popular crowd, a situation Willow is [...] Tags: Comics, Willow, Oni Press, Tara O Connor, Willow Sparks

Oni Press has collected together three of their recent digital releases in one location: webcomics.onipress.com. Right now, that’s a one-stop shop to read their online serializations of Sarah Graley’s Kim Reaper and Megan Rose Gedris’ Spectacle volume 2, as well as the publisher’s stunning state-by-state Draw Out the Vote registration guide. They are promoting this for all ages and promising more to come, including the wonderful Banana Sunday by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover, starting tomorrow, ... Tags: Comics, Comic News, Oni Press, Paul Tobin, Sarah Graley, Megan Rose Gedris, Colleen Coover, Kim Reaper

I haven’t played Dream Daddy, a yaoi-ish dating sim (visual novel) game where the user plays a single dad “new to town and eager to romance other hot Dads.” I did see a lot of people on Twitter enjoying it, though. Now Oni Press is putting out a five-issue tie-in comic series where each issue is by different creators focusing on different Dads. It launched at PAX West (a gaming convention) at the end of August, which seems like the [...] Tags: Comics, Comic News, Oni Press

Sometimes you can go home again. I’ve always loved the Hopeless Savages series, created and written by Jen Van Meter. It ran from 2002-2005, was collected in 2010 (previous link), and finally had a new installment in 2015. In cases like these, one worries that nostalgia won’t be enough, that the magic has been lost (and decade-older readers won’t recapture the same sense of wonder). Thankfully, that’s not the case here. Which is wonderful, since the whole series is based [...] Tags: Comics, Oni Press, Jen Van Meter

Sarah Graley put out Kim Reaper through Oni Press last year, with a collection in February. Now a sequel has been announced. Kim Reaper: Vampire Island is a four-issue miniseries that brings back Kim and Becka. College relationships are tough for everyone, but they’re EXTRA hard for Kim. Her grumpy grim reaper bosses are always mad at her, her girlfriend Becka’s roommate keeps hanging around, and now everybody is super into vampires for some reason! And she accidentally let slip [...] Tags: Comics, Kim, Comic News, Oni Press, Sarah Graley, Becka, Kim Reaper, Vampire Island, Becka College

A Quick & Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns is exactly what it says: an introduction to general-neutral pronouns in comic form. The short graphic novel by Archie Bongiovanni and co-writer Tristan Jimerson is out this week. It’s immediately approachable, with the two talking the reader through this introduction to what may be a new way to use language for some readers. The non-binary Archie uses they/them pronouns, while the cis Tristan uses he/him. They purposefully designed a guide that could [.... Tags: Comics, Archie, Oni Press, Archie Bongiovanni, Tristan Jimerson

Open Earth is the first original graphic novel from Limerence Press, the Oni Press imprint dedicated to erotic and sex education comics. As expected, it has several diverse and explicit sex scenes (which makes it problematic to read on an airplane, as I tried to). Unfortunately, the actual story isn’t as fleshed out or lovingly portrayed. As written by Sarah Mirk and illustrated by Eva Cabrera, this is about the culture clash between the generations on a space station. Rigo’s [...] Tags: Comics, Sarah Mirk, Oni Press, Limerence Press, Eva Cabrera

This impressive debut graphic novel uses a ghost story to explore questions of medical ethics and mental health. I found myself eager to follow along with Celeste as she struggles to understand the situation she’s in in Archival Quality, written by Ivy Noelle Weir and illustrated by Steenz. Celeste’s depression and anxiety kept her from graduating college and just lost her a job she really liked. Her only option seems to be an archivist job at a creepy local museum [...] Tags: Comics, Celeste, Oni Press, Ivy Noelle Weir, Steenz Celeste

Out later this month is Dead Weight: Murder at Camp Bloom, a terrific concept that unfortunately disappoints in the execution. This camp-based murder mystery is the debut graphic novel of co-writers Terry Blas and Molly Muldoon as well as artist Matthew Seely. Seely has an animation background, which shows in the expressive and slightly exaggerated character design. It felt like I was watching a cartoon, in both good — clear emotion, colorful settings, outsized facial features — and bad ways [..... Tags: Comics, Terry Blas, Oni Press, Camp Bloom, Molly Muldoon, Matthew Seely Seely

Per Newsarama, Hasbro Group Editor Sarah Gaydos, who took the job after John Barber stepped down from his editorial duties at IDW in 2016, is moving to a newly-created job at Oni Press. Gaydos will become the Editorial Director of Licensed Publishing at Oni shortly, apparently leaving IDW without a Hasbro Group Editor in the wake of the Unicron universe-ending event. Which honestly makes us even more anxious to see what comes after that. Keep reading for more details. Tags: Toys, IDW, John Barber, Oni, Oni Press, Sarah Gaydos, Hasbro Group, Newsarama Hasbro Group, Oni Press Gaydos

Katie O’Neill (Princess Princess Ever After) has created a wonderful world in The Tea Dragon Society. Outstanding character designs and concepts populate a book driven by a quiet feeling of exploration and discovery that is both relaxing and refreshing. Greta is a blacksmith’s apprentice, working with her goblin mother. When she rescues a small creature from attackers, she’s introduced to the world of tea dragons. They grow leaves and flowers from their bodies, which are used to brew special tea... Tags: Comics, Greta, Oni Press, Katie O Neill

Archer Coe and the Thousand Natural Shocks was a retro-styled pulp adventure graphic novel by Jamie S. Rich and Dan Christensen. It starred a hypnotist working to stop a serial killer, and I enjoyed the twisty mystery and the quirkiness of the lead character. Now Coe is back in a new graphic novel, Archer Coe and the Way to Dusty Death. Here’s the publisher’s description: Archer Coe, master hypnotist, is back to performing by day and consulting for the rich [...] Tags: Comics, Coe, Dan Christensen, Comic News, Oni Press, Jamie S Rich, Archer Coe

There are good mash-ups, and there are great ones, ones that make you wonder “how terrific! why haven’t I seen this combination before?” Megan Rose Gedris’s Spectacle is great, combining life in the circus, steampunk touches, a ghost sibling, and a murder mystery. Anna is the practical twin, creator of a steam-driven conjecture engine that can predict future events using statistics to 78% accuracy. Ironic, then, that she tells fortunes, knowing that they’re trickery. Kat is the twin liked by [..... Tags: Comics, Anna, KAT, Oni Press, Megan Rose Gedris

Apologies for the delay in getting this posted; I mean to do these every month but sometimes life kinda interferes with writing time. Anyways, welcome back to Confessions of a SRJ, in which I take forever and a day to opine on stuff I’ve read recently, which may or may not be available at a comics shop or online retailer at your convenience.
The Divided States of Hysteria #1, 2
Image Comics, Writer/Artist: Howard Chaykin
Digital : $1.99; Print: $3.99
I guess I could begin this review this way,... Tags: Reviews, Music, Abc, California, Dell, Cia, Batman, Popdose, Howard, El Guapo, Harvey, Bandit, Image Comics, Jerry Lewis, Herbie, Frank Miller

They Remain: Erotic, hallucinatory chiller gets US distro via Paladin
Paladin announced yesterday that they have acquired domestic theatrical rights to They Remain, a genre-bending experience in terror written and directed by Philip Gelatt. it was announced by company president Mark Urman. Gelatt, who has amassed impressive credentials as an innovative, versatile creator of sophisticated genre content in a variety of mediums, has re-teamed on the project with Reno Productions, with whom he ma... Tags: Movies, Horror, US, Reno, Cannes, Keith, Jessica, Barron, Kirby, Paladin, WGA, Crystal Dynamics, Dark Horse Comics, Movie News, Philip Gelatt, Oni Press

I admire folks who know they’ve got a good idea and are willing to keep at it until the rest of the world notices. The Damned by Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt originally launched in 2006. There were 8 issues in two miniseries through 2008. Since then, Bunn and Hurtt have had a lengthy run on The Sixth Gun. That’s recently ended, so it’s time to see if The Damned can find its audience now. Oni Press is making the [...] Tags: Art, Comics, Hurtt, Bunn, Cullen Bunn, Oni Press, Brian Hurtt

Some may have thought that the Scott Pilgrim juggernaut was over after the movie didn’t do as well as expected, but that hasn’t stopped the announcement of a new product I’m looking forward to. This summer, publisher Oni Press is teaming up with Renegade Game Studios to release a deck-building card game, Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Card Game. (A deck-building game is one where you acquire cards during the game which you can then use to play in different ways [...] Tags: Comics, Scott Pilgrim, Comic News, Oni Press